Free For the Bond (Romantic Suspense) (Beyond Blood, #3) by Nora Flite

mumbled. “I hadn't really thought about him for awhile until you and I talked that night.” Squinting, Juice looked me over and considered his next words. “Life is so fucking funny. You ask about him, and then he's in the news. Just... dead.”
    Hecko's pale face entered my mind. At this rate, Juice's memory of that fateful night was going to be my undoing. Could I get my ID before he lifted it and read my real name? Connected the dots that the man he'd met didn't exist? I needed a miracle. Maybe, if I whispered into my bluetooth, Kite could come help.
    My miracle toppled partially over the bar and knocked whatever was in her hand into Juice. The kid's shirt was soaked, his shout and Marina's gasp louder than the thumping music. “Oh my god!” she cried, hands over her mouth. “I'm so sorry! My foot caught on the chair and I just—I'm really sorry!”
    Wide-eyed, I looked at her sideways. Juice was wiping himself down, groaning at the mess. I knew an opportunity when I saw it. In a blink, my fingers swiped my ID off the bar. It was tucked safely into my pocket.
    Had Marina just rescued me?
    Between the time I'd watched her approach and now, she'd managed to take her jacket off and find a glass to spill on the kid. It would have been a split-second decision. She'd recognized I was in trouble. It was possible she'd heard some of what Juice was saying, too, but... She saved me, I thought in amazement. She could have let Juice flip my ID, see my real name, and connect the dots that I'd been lying to him. If Hecko's death was strong in his mind, strong enough that he'd quit dealing and was now bar-tending, it was likely he'd scrutinize my position in all of this.
    So many tiny threads, always ready to unravel and undo me. This was why Marina was such a risk to me—to us. Life was already a series of landmines. Where was the sense in carrying one around when it could explode at any time?
    Marina's laugh, high and sweet and so very fake, got my attention. I watched her as she bent close to Juice over the bar. I hadn't noticed till now, but her white shirt had gotten wet when she'd spilled the drink. Juice had certainly spotted the see-through material, his eyes bugging wide.
    “Jacob, talk to me. Are you okay?” I could tell Kite's nerves were fraying. He didn't know what I was seeing. In the middle of her giggle, hair thrown back and chest thrust out, Marina owned Juice's attention. This was my chance to make an escape. Juice didn't care who I was or who he thought I was. Not with a woman like her all over him.
    My heels clicked on the floor. The club noise drowned everything out but her sweet voice. That never left my head, trapped like a butterfly in a jar. In my hands, this girl's life was as thin as those gossamer wings. “I'm fine,” I said, tapping the button by my ear. “Go home. I'll meet you there.”
    Kite's silence stretched out. “Marina.” Her name crackled through the static. “I saw her walk inside.”
    “She broke her promise.” Stating it, I sounded cold and flat. The weight in my chest wanted to drag me to the floor. One test, a simple way to see if she would choose her word to us over her lust for revenge.
    She saved me, I reminded myself. Slamming the door open, I shoved out into the parking lot. She didn't have to. If anything, standing by and listening to what he was saying would have been helpful to her. If it were me... and I needed information... I would have hovered and waited.
    Marina hadn't done that. But she had come to the club in the first place.
    My desires were fighting in my heart and my head. They were going to tear me apart and leave me in pieces. If Kite had never mentioned this... this chance to justify letting her live, I could have gone on with the plan. It would have been nothing to spill her blood. Nothing.
    Marina is right not to trust me, I mused bitterly. I'm dangerous...
    And I do tell lies to everyone. Including myself.
    Dammit. I didn't know who I was anymore. Jacob